A patient monitoring system is an electronic medical device that measures a patient's various vital signs, collects and processes all measurements as data, and then displays the data graphically and/or numerically on a viewing screen. Graphical data is displayed continuously as data channels on a time axis (waveforms). In addition, a graphical user interface is often included to provide staff with access to change configuration and alarm limit settings. Patient monitoring systems are positioned near hospital beds, typically in critical care units, where they continually monitor patient status via measuring devices attached to the patient and can be viewed by hospital personnel. The systems are typically on a shelf, attached to the bed, or attached to a wall. Some patient monitoring systems can only be viewed on a local display, whereas others can be joined to a network and thereby display data at other locations, such as central monitoring or clinicians' stations.
Portable patient monitoring systems are available for use by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. These systems typically include a defibrillator along with the monitor. Other portable units, such as Holter monitors, are worn by patients for a particular time period and then returned to the physician for evaluation of the measured and collected data. Current patient monitoring systems are able to measure and display a variety of vital signs, including, pulse oximetry (SpO2), electrocardiograph (ECG), invasive blood pressure (IBP), non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP), electroencephalograph (EEG), body temperature, cardiac output, capnography (CO2), and respiration. Patient monitoring systems are capable of measuring and displaying maximum, minimum, and average values and frequencies, such as pulse and respiratory rates.
Data collected can be transmitted through fixed wire connections or wireless data communication. Power to patient monitoring systems can be supplied through a main power line or by batteries. While current patient monitoring systems are effective in monitoring patient conditions and notifying medical personnel of changes, they are not without certain drawbacks and limitations.
Patient monitoring systems are typically equipped with audio and visual alarms to notify medical personnel of changes in the patient's status. The alarm parameters are typically set by medical personnel. For example, audible alarms can often be too loud and distracting to other patients, personnel and even family members that may be present in the patient's room. Bright, flashing visual clinician/nurse alarms can also be distracting to other patients. Conversely, more subtle visual alarms can be too difficult to visualize, which can be a result of visual clutter on the monitoring system display or because the visual alarm is not differentiated enough from other information on the display. In addition, it can be difficult for clinicians to silence an active alarm, delaying care to the patient. The typical user interface for alarm control is operated via traditional push-buttons or in many instances a touchscreen or keyboard.
Therefore, a need exists for a better alarm mechanism within patient monitoring systems, in which both the audible and visual alarms are easily recognized by the clinicians while not disturbing patients. In addition, there is a need for an alarm mechanism in which an attending clinician can quickly silence the alarm and then focus on the patient's needs.
In addition, although visual and audible alarms are generated in an alarm situation, there is seldom nursing staff dedicated to watching these systems as the nursing staff is busy attending to many patients. System-generated alarms next to the patient will often wake the patient, are often “false” alarms, and are also frightening to the patient's family. It is desirable to have the primary alarming notification occur at the location of the assigned caregiver, not at the patient, since it is the caregiver that needs to take action. One conventional method for providing alarm notifications at the caregiver location is to repeat information from patient monitors located at the patient's bedside within central work stations or send the information to pagers to alert staff of an alarm situation, specifically for when the staff is not physically in the patient's room. However, in these redundant systems, the alarm notification is often still present at the bedside and still has the drawback of disturbing patients and their families.
Another conventional method involves telemetry transmitters, which have no primary alarm capabilities and always transfer alarm notifications to a secondary device for primary alarming. Unfortunately, these systems require extensive and expensive equipment to ensure reliable transfer of primary alarming function.
Yet another conventional method involves a dedicated network specifically for patient monitoring. These networks are designed for maximum redundancy, reliability, and robustness in order to guarantee the transmission of alarm notifications. Such parallel monitoring networks are expensive, however, and not suitable for budget conscious hospitals or in global geographic regions lacking the ability to purchase and support a complex IT infrastructure.
Therefore, a need exists for a cost-effective, fail-safe method of sending primary alarm notifications from a patient monitor to a secondary device carried by one or more assigned caregivers, instead of sounding at the patient, and without requiring a discrete and dedicated network infrastructure. In particular, there is a need for a cost-effective, fail-safe method of sending primary alarm notifications from a patient monitor to a secondary device carried by one or more assigned caregivers which runs on a healthcare provider's existing network, even where that existing network is not completely reliable.